Railroad cars



Dec. 12, 1961 F. E. YOCKEY 3,

RAILROAD CARS Filed June 30, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 87 WATT)? Dec. 12, 1961 F. E. 'YOCKEY 3,012,522

RAILROAD CARS Filed June 30, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 hw e/vrcz FLOYD Yea/(5) y Arr'f F. E. YOCKEY RAILROAD CARS Dec. 12, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 30, 1958 //v://vroe mom 5. Years Y Arr)! 3,012,522 Patented Dec. 12, 1961 33312522 RAILRGAD CARS Floyd E. Yoclrey, 4264 Red Bud, dt. Louis 15, Mo. Filed June 30, E58, Ser. No. 745,557 2 Claims. (Cl. 105-162) This invention relates to improvements in railroad cars. More particularly, this invention relates to improvements in railroad cars that are used in the maintenance of railroad rights-of-way.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved railroad car that can be used in the maintenance of railroad rights-of-way.

In the maintenance of railroad rights-of-way, it is necessary to use jacks to establish the level of the track. The jacks are standard items of commerce, and they are capable of lifting and supporting heavy loads; but those jacks are heavy. Jacks that are made of steel and that can provide raises of five inches weigh about forty-one pounds; and while jacks that are made of aluminum and that can provide similar raises weigh less, they are more expensive than the steel jacks. Thus, aluminum jacks cost about forty-one dollars each while the steel jacks cost only about thirty-one dollars each. The lesser cost of the steel jacks makes their use desirable, but the greater Weight of those jacks makes their use awkward. This is particularly true where, as in the case of one of the major railroads of this country, three jacks are set adjacent each length of rail during a raise; and there are over two hundred and seventy rails per mile on a single track railroad,

The jacks are used to set the level of the track, and thereupon the jack ties are tamped. At such time the jacks can be removed and carried forward to other sections of track that are yet to be jacked up. During a days time, each jack will be used many, many times; and hence it would be desirable to provide a jack-carrying railroad car. The present invention provides an improved jack-carrying car, and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved jackcarrying car for railroads.

One present day jack-carrying railroad car has a bed onto which the jacks are dumped in random fashion, and those jacks must be picked out of the resulting pile by hand. Because those jacks are heavy, they frequently tend to shift as one of them is removed; and any such shifting can lead to bruises and cuts on the hands of the workmen who must remove the jacks from the pile. The present invention obviates any such bruises or cuts on the hands of the workmen by providing a jack-carrying railroad car which has individual jack-supporting trays that each accommodates just one jack. Those trays keep the jacks separate and distinct from each other and keep adjacent jacks from interfering with the handling of any one jack. Further, those trays can be tilted outwardly by the operator without any help from workmen on the ground. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a jack-carrying railroad car which has a number of individual jack-carrying trays that each accommodates just one jack and that can be tilted outwardly by the operator.

The jack-carrying trays of the jack-carrying railroad car provided by the present invention are mounted so they are normally overbalanced toward the center of the car. As a result, those trays tend to remain in position adjacent the center of the car and to hold the jacks against dislodgement or loss. However, that overbalancing of those jack-carrying trays can readily be overcome and those trays tilted outwardly to deposit the jacks on the ground. it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a jack-carrying railroad car with jack-carrying trays that are normally overbalanced toward the center of the car but that can readily be tilted outwardly to'deposit the jacks on the ground.

In dry weather, the bases of the jacks will usually be dry and will usually be free of mud and gravel. However, in damp weather or in wet weather, mud and gravel will tend to adhere to the bases of the jacks; and that mud and gravel will make it difficult to attain firm seating of those jacks on solid flat surfaces. The present invention assures firm seating of the jacks in the jackcarrying trays of the jack-carrying railroad car provided by that invention by making those trays with generally U-shaped, open bottoms. The edges of the U-shaped open bottoms of the jack-carrying trays receive the edges of the bases of the jacks; and hence those jacks will be able to seat solidly even though large balls of mud or gravel cling to the bottoms of those bases. Further, those U-shaped open bottoms of the trays permit some of the mud and gravel to be dislodged from the bases of the jacks as the jack-carrying railroad car rolls along the track. It is therefore an object'of the present invention to provide a jaclocarrying railroad car with jackcarrying trays that have generally U-shaped open bottoms.

The jack-carrying railroad car providedby the present invention moves from the jacked-up sections of the track to the unjacked sections of the track and back, and in doing so passes between the jacks which are supporting the jacked-up sections of the track. The present invention makes this possible by providing that jack-carrying car with wheels that have rail-engaging faces which are narrower than the balls of the rails. As a result, the jack-carrying car can pass between the jacks of the jacked-up sections of track even though those jacks have become canted during the raising of the section of track. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a jack-carrying railroad car which has wheels with rail-engaging faces that are narrower than the balls of the rails.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention should become apparent from an examination of the drawing and accompanying description.

In the drawing and accompanying description a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown and described but it is to be understood that the drawing and accompanying description are for the purpose of illustration only and do not limit the invention and that the invention will be defined by the appended claims.

In the drawing, FIG. 1 is a partially-broken, side elevational view of one embodiment of a jack-carrying railroad car that is made in accordance with the principles and teachings of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the left-hand end of the car of FIG. 1,

IG. 3 is an enlarged, partially sectioned view through one of the jack-carrying trays of the car of FIGS. 1 and 2, and it shows a jack in dotted lines,

FIG. 4 is a partially sectioned view similar to that of FIG. 3, but it shows the tray in jack-releasing position,-

and,

FIG. 5 is a sectional View of the tray shown in FIG. 4 and it is taken along the plane indicated by the line 5-5 in FIG. 4.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the numeral 10 denotes an elongated, horizontal frame member forajackcarrying railroad car that is made in accordance with the principles and teachings of the present invention. A

similar elongated, horizontal frame member is provided for the other side of the said railroad car, but that frame member is obscured in FIG. 1 by the frame member 10. In the particular embodiment of railroad car shown by FIG. 1, the longi-tudinally-extending frame member 10 and its counterpart are channels. The channel 10 and its counterpart are held infixedly spaced relation by a transversely-extending frame member 12 and its counterpart.

The frame member 12 is at the rear of the railroad car, and its counterpart is at the front of that railroad car; that counterpart being obscured in FIG. 2 by the frame member 12. In the particular embodiment of railroad car shown in FIG. 2, the frame member 12 and its counterpart are channels. Short vertical braces 14 are provided adjacent the outer edges of the flanges of the longitudinally-extending frame member and its counterpart.

The numeral 11 denotes an elongated frame bar which starts at the left-hand end of the frame member 12 in FIG. 2, extends downwardly at a shallow angle to a point intermediate that left-hand end and the center of that frame member, extends horizontally to a point intermediate that center and the right-hand end of frame member 12, and then inclines upwardly at a shallow angle to the right-hand end of that frame member. A short vertical brace 13 is secured to and extends between the bottom of the frame member 12 and the frame bar 11, and it coacts with that frame member and frame bar to constitute a rigid frame depending downwardly from the frame member 12. A generally similar frame bar 15 is provided at the front of the railroad car; and the opposite ends of that frame bar are suitably secured to the counterpart of the frame member 12. A brace, which is the counterpart of the brace 13, is secured to and extends between the frame bar 15 and the counterpart of frame member 12. The frame member 10 and its counterpart, the transverse member 12 and its counterpart, the frame bar 11 and 15, and the brace 13 and its counterpart constitute a rigid and sturdy framework for the jack-carrying railroad car.

' Bearing housings 16 are secured to and depend downwardly from the longitudinally-extending frame member 10 and its counterpart. Only the bearing housings for the rear axle are shown in FIG. 2 because the bearing housings for the front axle are obscured by the bearing housings for that rear axle. The rear axle is denoted by the numeral 18 and is rotatably held within the bearings in the bearing housings 16. Wheels 20 are fixedly secured to the axle 18, and they will rotate with that axle. As indicated particularly in FIG. 2, the wheels 20 roll along the rails 21, and the rail-engaging faces of those wheels are narrower than the balls of those rails.

A sprocket 22 is suitably secured to the axle 18, as by a key, pin or the like; and rotation of that sprocket will cause rotation of axle 18 and wheels 20. A sprocket chain 24 engages the teeth of the sprocket 22 and extends to a sprocket pinion, not shown. That sprocket pinion is mounted on a shaft which is selectively connected to the driving engine of the railroad car by a transmission 28, part of which is shown in FIG. 2. A clutch lever 26 extends upwardly and rearwardly from the transmission 28, and that lever can be suitably manipulated by the operator of the car. The driving engine for the railroad car is enclosed within and protected by a suitable enclosure 30 adjacent the front end of that railroad car. The exhaust for that driving engine is denoted by the numeral 31, and it extends transversely of the railroad car, as indicated in FIG. 1. The front axle of the car is denoted by the numeral 32, and it is rotatably supported in bearings held by the front bearing housings. The front wheels are fixedly secured to that axle, and they are denoted by the numeral 34. The driving engine and transmission provided for the railroad car of the present invention are of standard and usual construction, and they are of the type used on a Northwestern S32 track motor car.

The numeral 35 denotes a socket which is secured to one side of the front end of the framework of the railroad car, and a counterpart of that socket is secured to the other side of the front end of that framework. Those sockets receive and hold the lower ends of vertically- .ports 36 and the bar 38 coact with the sockets 35 to pro- 4. vide a vertical frame at the front end of the car which is fixedly secured to the framework of that car.

A sleeve 44 and its counterpart are telescoped over the uprights 36 before those uprights are set in the sockets 35, and those sleeves support the right-hand ends of bars 49 and 42 and their counterparts. The bars 40 extend rearwardly from the sleeve 44 and its counterpart to the rear end of the enclosure 30 for the driving engine. The bars 42 also extend rearwardly from the sleeve 44 and its counterpart, but those bars incline downwardly at a shallow angle to the horizontal; and they do not extend as far back as the rear end of the enclosure 30. bar 41 is secured to and extends transversely between the rearmost ends of the bars 40, and it also extends through notches, not shown, in the rear end of the enclosure 30. The bar 41 coacts with the bars 40, and with the vertical frame defined by the supports 36 and the bar 38, to form a rigid central frame which is rigidly secured to the framework of the jack-carrying railroad car. The bar 41 has a guard 43 secured thereto, and that guard extends rearwardly of the clutch lever 26 and prevents undue rearward movement of that clutch lever.

Vertical rods 46 extend between and are suitably se= cured to the left-hand ends of the rods 42 at a point to the right of the left-hand ends of the rods 40. A support 48 is secured to the outer face of each of the sides of the enclosure 30 for the driving engine, and those supports, in turn, support L-shaped brackets 50. Those brackets extend outwardly from the supports 48, and they are suitably secured to the rear ends of the bars 42 as by welding. The supports 48 also support L'shaped brackets 52 which are disposed below the levels of the L-shaped brackets 50; and the brackets 52 are suitably bolted to forwardly extending bars 54. The forward ends of the bars 54 are suitably secured to the uprights 36. as by bolts or welding or the like, and they project forwardly ahead of those uprights, as shown particularly by FIG. 1. The front ends of the bars 54 have a lifting handle 56 secured to them and that lifting handle is shown in the form of a pipe in FIG. 1. A lifting handle 69 is provided at the rear of the railroad car, and that lifting handle is fixedly secured to the framework of that car by bent supports 58. Those supports extend forwardly from the handle 60 and are suitably secured to the framework of the car.

Two upright angles 62 are provided adjacent the rear of the railroad car, and those angles are suitably secured to the rear flanges of the frame member 12 and to the rear face of the frame bar 11. The frame bar 11 coacts with the frame member 12 to provide the required resistance against forward and backward tilting of the angles 62. Two angles 64 extend upwardly from the framework of the car and incline rearwardly relative to the angles 62. The angles 62 coact with the angles 64 to rigidly support a framing 66 for a seat and a back. The seat is denoted by the numeral 68, and the back is denoted by the numeral 70.

The numeral 72 denotes supports that extend upwardly from the framework of the railroad car, and those supports are adjacent the front ends of the frame member 1% and its counterpart. The numerals 74 denote vertical supports which are disposed outwardly of but closely adjacent the bars 54. Those supports hold bases 76 a short distance above the framework of the railroad car; and those bases are provided with flanges which extend upwardly a short distance above the tops of those bases. Struts 78 are provided on the bases 76, and those struts extend upwardly short distances above those bases. The supports 72 and 74 and the struts 78 hold rings 80 in register with, but above the level of, the flanges on the bases 76. The bases 76 and the rings 80 are dimensioned to receive, and provide lateral support for, containers for the water to be supplied to the workman. Those bases and rings are adjacent the front end of the railroad car.

The numeral 82 denotes an arm which is mounted ad- 55 'jacent the rear of the framework of the car but which is permitted to pivot slightly. Brake bands 84 are secured to the free ends of the arms 82, and those brake bands can engage the upper portions of the rail-engaging *faces of the rear wheels 20. Rearwardly-ex-tending arms 86 are suitably secured to a rod, not shown, that extends transvrselyof the railroad ;car; and the free ends of the larms 86 are connected to the brake bands 84 by ad- .justable connectors 83. The rod to which the arms 86 are secured is connected to, and is rotatable by, the brake lever 90. The application of braking forces of the lever 90 will force the brake bands 84 to engage the rail-engaging faces of the wheel 20 with suflicient force to brake the railroad car.

The numeral 92 denotes two L-shaped brackets which are secured to the outer ends of the transversely-directed frame member 12, and those brackets extend rearwardly from that frame member. The rearmost ends of those brackets support upwardly and outwardly inclined struts or pivot blocks 94. Other struts or pivot blocks 94 are spaced along the sides of the railroad car, and those struts extend upwardly and outwardly from the side edges of the floor 93 of that car. The upper ends of the struts 94 are alined, and those upper ends have openings which accommodate pivots 96 in the form of elongated rods.

The numeral 98 generally denotes the jack-supporting trays provided by the present invention, and each of those trays has a sleeve 99 at the bottom thereof which telescopes over one or the other of the elongated pivots 96. The trays 88 have generally U-shaped bottoms 100 and have short upstanding side walls 102. The back of each tray 98 extends upwardly beyond the tops of the sides of that tray, and the front of each tray is open. The high back and open front facilitate ready insertion of jacks into the trays, and also facilitate ready tilting of the jacks out of the trays. The side walls 102 and the bottoms 100 of the trays 98 define in effect, angles which have their vertical flanges at their outermost edges and have their horizontal flanges extending toward and confronting each other. The high backs 104 of the trays 98 prevent undue inward movement of the jacks as the jacks are moved into position on the trays.

As indicated particularly in FIGS. 3 and 4, the sleeves 99 on the trays 98 are closer to the front edges of those trays than they are to the backs 104 of those trays. Consequently, the weight of each tray overbalances that tray for movement inwardly toward the center of the railroad car. When a jack is mounted in a tray, as indicated in FIG. 3, the weight of that jack will additionally bias the tray to its normal position, all as shown by FIG. 3.

The numeral 106 denotes ears that are provided on the four, front-most trays 98 of the railroad car. In the particular embodiment shown in the drawing, there are five trays 98 at each side of the railroad car, and the two trays at the front on each side are provided with ears 96. Connecting rods 108 are pivotally secured to the ears 106 of the front-most pair of trays 98 of the railroad car, and connecting rods 110 are pivotally secured to the ears 106 on the second front-most pair of trays 98 of the railroad car. The connecting rods 108 and 110 extend upwardly from the levels of the trays 98, as shown particularly in FIGS. 1 and 2. Pivots 112 extend horizontally outwardly from the bars 40, and levers 114 and 116 are rotatably mounted on those pivots. The levers 114 and 116 are L-shaped in elevation, and they are set so one arm thereof extends upwardly as a handle and so the other arm thereof extends forwardly as an eccentric arm. The eccentric arms of the levers 114 are rotatably connected to the upper ends of the connecting rods 110, and the eccentric arms of the levers 116 are rotatably connected to the upper ends of the connecting rods 188. Supports 117 extend downwardly from the bars 40, and those supports carry horizontally directed stops 119. Those stops underlie the forwardly extending eccentric arms of the levers 114 and 116, and they limit the extent to which those levers can rotate downwardly.

When the levers 114 and 116 are resting against the stops 119, the front-most pair of trays and the second frontmost pair of trays will be the positions shown in FIG. 3. In that position, the bottoms of those trays will rest upon stops 118 which have the form of elongated angles.

Rotation of the levers 114 and 116 in the counterclockwise direction, as those levers are viewed in FIG. 1, will apply upward pulls to the connecting rods and 108 and cause the front-most pair of trays and the second front-most pair of trays to tilt outwardly to the position shown by FIG. 4. The outward tilting of the trays 98 is limited by the stops 120, which have the form of elongated angles. faces of the inclined struts 94. I

As the trays 98 move from the position of FIG. 3 to the position of FIG. 4, the jacks 122 will tilt outwardly and fall to the ground. By having two levers 114 and two levers 116, and by having those levers individually operable, the operator can cause any one of more of the jacks in the front-most pair and second front-most pair of trays to be tilted outwardly. The jacks in the central pair of trays are close enough to the operator so he can either use his feet to tilt them outwardly or he can lean forward and use his hands to tilt them outwardly. The jacks in the rear-most pair of trays and in the second rearmost pair of trays are so close to the operator that he can use his hands to tilt them outwardly and let them fall to the ground.

The spacing between the pivots 96 and the ground is selected so each jack will turn a complete somesault and land on its base when it is tilted outwardly. This is desirable because it minimizes the amount of lifting work that the workmen must do in setting the jacks in position. Furthermore, the upstanding jacks are more readily seen by the workmen who are working their way along the tracks.

To set a jack in one of the trays 98, it is only necessary for a workman, or for the operator of the railroad car, to raise the base of that jack far enough to enable it to pass over the outer end of the tray, and then move that jack far enough back so its center of gravity is located inwardly of the pivot 96. Thereafter, the jack can be seated in the tray, and it will then rest in the position shown by FIG. 3. As the jack is moved rearwardly into the tray, any mud or gravel on the base of that jack will be scarped off by the inwardly directed flanges of the U-shape bottom of the tray; and any mud or gravel at the center of the base of that jack will =fit into the opening at the center of the tray and will thus not impair proper seating of the jack. Once the full complement of ten jacks has been set in the trays 98, the operator of the railroad car can drive to the position where the jacks are to be used; and then, by suitable manipulation of the levers 114 and 116 and by suitably pushing the tops of the jacks in the three rearmost pairs of trays, he can deliver the jacks to the desired positions on the right-of-way.

The bases 76 and the rings 80 are mounted so they project forwardly of the framework of the railroad car, and so they are spaced from the tray 98. This is desirable because it will avoid the bruises and cuts that workmen could experience if those bases and rings held the water containers over the trays 98 and if workmen accidentally tilted jacks outwardly while drawing water.

It will also be noted that the pivots 96 and the stops 120 are spaced above the levels of the tops of the wheels 20. As a result, trays can be set adjacent those Wheels without having the jacks tilted from those trays strike whose wheels.

Whereas the drawing and accompanying description have shown and described a preferred embodiment of the present invention it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the form of the invention without affecting the scope thereof.

What I claim is:

1. The method of distributing track jacks selectively Those stops are suitably secured to the outer along the right of way from a railroad vehicle comprising the steps of first loading the track jacks individually in separate, independently actuatable, tiltable trays, said trays being spaced longitudinally along each side of the vehicle, secondly, moving the vehicle along the right of way, and thirdly, tilting each tray selectively at the location desired for a track jack to unload the jacks.

2. The method of distributing track jacks selectively along the right of way from a railroad vehicle comprising the steps of first loading the track jacks individually in separate, independently actuatable, tiltable trays, said trays being spaced longitudinally along each side of the vehicle and some of said trays holding some of said jacks accessible to an operator seated on said vehicle While other of said trays hold other of said jacks out of the reach of said operator, secondly, moving the vehicle along .the right of way, and thirdly, tilting each tray selectively at the location desired for a track jack to unload the jacks, said some jacks being tilted outwardly by the hands of said operator of said vehicle and said other jacks being tilted out by lever-actuation of said trays.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

